The Demon and The Witch
by Sadistic Writer Alice
Summary: Once upon a time...A mischievous pyromaniac demon and a cowardly potion making witch set out on a quest to find and kill a monster! Karmanami!- For animeandmangafangirl :)
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: for animeandmangafangirl :) I reallllllly hope you like it xD**

 **This story is going to have a fair bit of violence and stuff, so just a fair warning the rating may change and some beloved characters may die at any point in the story.. sorry not sorry ;P**

 **The Demon and The Witch**

 **~ Contract ~**

In a world, unlike our own, deep within a forest of fluorescent trees was a glass cottage which was the home of a middle-aged woman, who was at this moment mixing together herbs and spices into a pot of boiling water over the fire in the middle of the room. Beside the fire a young girl of five or six wrapped tightly in a heavy red blanket watched her grandmother carefully, just waiting for the write moment to ask her a favor. She knew her grandmother became intensely focused on the tasks in front of her, and that she should not break her concentration unless it was an emergency.

Her grandmother turned to and fro, quickly collecting vegetables and fruits and plants of varying sizes, colors and shapes, placing them onto her table to chop, dice, peel, and grate. She worked fast-paced, carefully dropping handfuls of ingredients into the pot, stirring it occasionally, and then preparing the ingredients, her hands a blur as she chopped up the stocks and peeled all of the fruit nicely.

Sometimes her granddaughter was afraid she might hurt herself in the process of everything - what with that large blade the size of her arm, and the even scarier yellow blade which seemed to never dull, as she had never seen grandmother ever even brush it against the knife sharpening rock. But how could a blade never need sharpening? _It's an arrogant, un-dullable blade._ Her grandmother answered once. This only confused her more.

"And the final ingredient.." Her eyes snapped open, as she saw her grandmother reach into the tall glass jar on the highest shelf, scooping out a spoonful of sparkling grainy substance and pour it into the pot.

"Sugar." her grandmother smiled bitterly, brushing her dainty hands on her apron before removing it and laying it on the back of her rocking chair.

 _It makes everything sweet - it's one of the secret ingredients of love._ Mrs. Akari explained to her once.

"Now Hinata, what shall we do while we wait for the soup to cook?" her grandmother asked, smiling brightly.

"A story!" Hinata blurted out immediately, her eyes shining. "Grandmother tell me a story, please?"

"Oh, why I believe I've told you every story I know." she protested, sitting down in her rocking chair.

"Nu-uh!" Hinata shook her head. "You only told me the ones in books. But you and mumma always share stories about the - _the demon._ " she whispered, clutching the blanket around her tight.

"The demon?" It was then that her grandmother's face changed and that distant look of longing came across her face for a moment. She shook her head gently, saying, "Well. I suppose I would have to tell you this story one day or another. If you insist, I'll tell you the story. The story of the demon and the witch."

* * *

 _Once upon a time..._

 _"H-hocus pocus!"_

 _"Where's the magic?"_

 _"You're not a witch! You're a fraud!"_

 _The people on the street jeered at the petite, small statured girl in the black cloak. One man threw the core of his apple at her, making her cringe and shrink back from the crowd. She took a deep breath, attempting one more spell in front of them._

 _"T-the flow-flower will bloom Upon the hills in May Winds of fate bring the sweet perfume For it-it-it is child's play!"_

 _A moment passed and a gentle breeze passed, brushing her long strands of dark hair into her eyes, but the sweet scent of flowers did not follow._

 _"Get out'ta here, ya freakin' poser!" a man grunted, pushing the small girl down onto the muddy ground._

 _Others shook their heads, whispering things to one another and looking at the girl, scowling at her._

 _A young boy even picked up a dirt clod and threw it at her, while another walked past her, spitting on the ground in front of her face._

 _The girl lay there, her eyes closed tightly. She merely lay still, blocking out the sounds of their jeering and counted in her head to one hundred and twelve. That was how long the jeering would normally go on. Everybody had left, she thought, as she no longer heard their voices, sitting up and opening her eyes. But when she opened them, she found that a pair of blazing golden eyes were boring into hers._

 _"Wh-wha!" she shrieked, raising her hands in front of her face, afraid to be seen by those eyes._

 _"Calm down, witch." a pair of strong hands lowered hers - the man with the fiery eyes wasn't mere inches from her face anymore, and his eyes were more gentle, with the smallest glint of mischief in his eyes. He had bright red hair which would compare with the color of an apple, and a smile that would have made the witch feel butterflies in her stomach, if she wasn't already feeling nervous because of him. He didn't look that terrifying now that he wasn't too close to her, in fact he actually kind of looked handsome, he must be a prince, or a knight maybe, the witch thought._

 _"Geez, they really weren't kidding. You're the most cowardly witch I've met." he chuckled humorously._

 _She took that last thought back - he wasn't a prince nor a knight. He was an angel in disguise - a demon. He was a demon._

 _"... what do you want from me?" she asked carefully, bringing her hand slowly behind her back.._

 _"Hm," he smirked, standing to his feet, looking down at her, sizing her up. "Okuda The Witch of The Glen.. I hear you can kill anything with your potions."_

 _"You're asking help from me?" Okuda asked. She stared at him, shock evident on her face. No one ever asked for her help - no one believed she was a powerful witch or could prove to be useful. She felt very touched for a moment, but then she snapped to her senses and remembered she could be dealing with a demon - and no one made deals with demons. Not even witches._

 _"Well there's no one else around. I want your help in killing a monster that has been alive far too long in this world." he said, all humor gone from his tone, pulling a piece of parchment and a quill from under his black cloak and unraveling it in front of her. "If you do, I will give you anything you desire. All you have to do is sign this contract."_

* * *

"So Okuda said to the demon - oh, the soup's ready now." Hinata's grandmother stood from her rocking chair and stirred up the pot before collecting two bowls and spoons. She filled both bowls with soup and gave one to her granddaughter, and then set the other down on the table.

Hinata took the soup and held it close to her chest in both hands. "Grandmother, what did Okuda say?" she asked eagerly.

"Well - hm," her grandmother smiled, looking out the cottage window. "I think we'll save the next part of the story for when your brother gets back from chopping wood. I need a little time to remember the rest of the story. You should eat your soup quickly so you can help your brother put the kindling in the woodshed."

Hinata pouted, but ate her soup as her grandmother requested, a little too quickly as she burnt her tongue. She got to her feet and unwrapped herself from her warm blanket and put on her boots. "I'll go wait for brother outside. Thank you for the meal grandmother, it was delicious like always."

"You're welcome, sweetheart." her grandmother smiled, handing her cloak to her and watching her leave the cottage and run down the path. She smiled, watching the girl cover her head of red locks a bright smile on her face, and a glint in her eye. "She's just like her grandfather."


	2. Chapter 2

**The Demon and The Witch**

 **~ Counter-Contract ~**

"-and then the demon asked her to sign the contract to help him." Hinata finished catching up her big brother on the story as he ate his soup. "There, now you are all caught up, Seiji!" She then turned her eyes on her grandmother pleadingly, "Will you continue the story, grandmother? Please?"

"Yes, of course."

"Grandmother." Seiji gave his grandmother a meaningful look. "She's a little young to hear this story."

The middle aged woman waved her hands, saying, "She's more ready than you were when you learned it. She'd have found out by other means if I hadn't given in to her request. The clever little girl."

Hinata giggled, sticking her tongue out at her brother as she sat on her grandmother's lap. "So did the witch, Okuda, sign it or not?"

"Well.."

* * *

 _"I refuse." Okuda said, backing away. "You're a demon, I.. I can't help you. I apologize."_

 _"Hah?" the demon tilted his head to the side, the contract in his hand turned to ash at his feet. He stepped over the ashes and advanced towards the witch. "Wellll, you are timid, but you've got some intelligence. I guess you would have to, to have earned your reputation."_

 _"Stay back!" the witch warned him, reaching into a pouch on her side, she removed a vial and waved it around, water spraying around her._

 _But it was no use._

 _"Purified water?" the demon laughed, drawing closer. "A good attempt. But that only works to purify a soul that's been possessed by darkness, to shoo it away. But you see, I am the darkness. I cannot be purified if there is nothing pure to begin with."_

 _Now the witch started to tremble in fear, for the only thing that she had been taught could keep demons away, was useless. Perhaps a spell could have worked against him - but the chances of that were quite slim. Running wouldn't do much good, because as everyone knows, demons are quick on their feet, and the witch was unfortunately not a good runner._

 _With few options left, Okuda chose to make a counter-contract with the demon. One that was fair, and straightforward - no double meanings, no expiration date or double standards._

 _"If you want my help... Then you have to go by the rules of my contract!"_

 _"Ahh, what a crafty little witch." the demon chuckled, "Making me destroy that contract made by Satan himself. I'm curious, what are the terms of your contract?"_

 _She took a deep breath, and thought carefully over her words. "We - we have to be completely honest with each other. That means if I ask you... a question, you have to give a true answer, not a lie. And I'll.. I'll answer honest as well."_

 _"Is that all?" he asked, grinning at her. "That won't be a problem."_

 _"No, um.. there's more. You can't.. p-possess me, ok? Like, um, take over my body, or mind." Okuda shivered, scared by the thought of being possessed._

 _"Fine fine, I didn't want to try being a girl anyway." the demon said, looking away. "Geez, you're really paranoid aren't you?"_

 _"Well... You're a demon, and you'd try to.. um, find loopholes in the contract."_

 _"I already have." he smirked at her, eyes gleaming mischievously._

 _"E-eh?!" she cried out in alarm. Her mind scrambled to find any mistake she might have made, any words that could be twisted. She didn't get very far, because then the demon was talking again._

 _"To save us some time, I'm going to list off a couple of rules I've thought of that you have most likely thought up: No devouring your soul, taking you to hell, killing you, sex with you,"_

 _"Eh?"_

 _"Making you do indecent things on the journey, setting fire to churches, playing the fiddle... have I missed any?"_

 _"Um... how many contracts have you made with people?" the witch asked, worry in her tone._

 _"Thirty-five. You're lucky number thirty-six." the demon grinned. Somehow, the witch felt rather unlucky._

 _"Uh.."_

 _"So, shall we shake hands for this contract, or do you want to do something like trade hearts, or-"_

 _"Shaking hands works!" Okuda interrupted the demon, worried about what other suggestions he might have._

 _"Great then," The two of them shook hands, and the demon laughed. "Well, Okuda The Witch of The Glen, you've just made a contract with Karma, the Demon of Jokes."_

 _"The.. the what?" the witch gave him a skeptical look. "I, I don't mean to be rude, but, I think that your title is really lame."_

 _"Hey, I was not the one who came up with the title." Karma deadpanned. "Us demons are given our names by others. If you want to change it, please be my guest."_

 _"Hmm," the witch looked at him for a long moment. "What.. if I just call you Karma? Y-your name is unique on its own."_

 _"Karma.. Karma..." the demon tested it, saying it a few times thoughtfully. "Well it doesn't really put fear in people's hearts."_

 _"B-because calling yourself a demon of jokes does?!"_

 _"Hey, I wasn't finished," Karma pouted at her childishly. "Once our quest is done, my name will put fear in people's hearts. And so will yours."_

 _"Eh? But, but! I just want..."_

 _"Hm?"_

 _"I want to be, accepted." the witch whispered, looking down at the ground._

 _"Well, you will be. If that's what you really want, I can make it happen after we kill a monster." the demon said, lifting her chin up. "You and I, we're going to kill the Unkillable Monster."_

* * *

"And that is where we will stop the story for tonight."

"Aww, no~" Hinata pouted, looking up at her grandmother. "But they're just going to start their quest!"

"Hinata, it's getting late, and we're going to be travelling all day tomorrow." Seiji said, picking up his little sister. "We need to get some rest."

"Oh, ok." Hinata sighed, looking at the embers of the fire, rubbing her eyes. "Good night grandmother. Will you please continue the story tomorrow?" she asked with a yawn.

"Of course," her grandmother smiled, and gave the two of them a hug, mumbling a few words before letting go of them. "Now don't dawdle on the way home you two." She smiled, seeing the two of them set out of the house.

Hinata had fallen asleep on her brother's back - if she hadn't, she might have caught a few words he recited, as he faced the glass cottage at the end of the tree line. Might have even felt the magic flowing around them, seen it surround the cottage...

"Protect thy home, thy dwellers, from the ones that roam, searching for this shelter..."


End file.
